On the 11th June, a watercolour by Frederick Swynnerton, Annie’s brother-in-law, was sold by auction at Wotton Auction Rooms, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire.
His Mountain scene has a label in the back referring to a frame maker in Simla [modern Shimla], the city in the foothills of the Himalayas in central northern India where Frederick lived for three decades.
The 18 x 25 cm work is signed but undated, but would have been created some time between c. 1890, his move to India, and 1918, when he died in Bombay. It is a skilfully executed work with great impression of depth, something difficult to achieve easily in watercolour.
Only fourteen other works by Frederick are know to myself, all oils – five portraits, six townscapes and three other works – of varying quality. There are reportedly (private communication) a number of portraits and scenic works still extant in private collections in India.
Jonathan Russell
ANNIE LOUISA SWYNNERTON (1844-1933) 